


The Ending

by MisticRays



Category: Achievement Hunter, Joel Heyman - Fandom, Rooster Teeth, Ryan Haywood - Fandom
Genre: Blood, F/M, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-05-07 08:46:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5450522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisticRays/pseuds/MisticRays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arianna Pearce lives in a world where scientists have created actual vampires. After her parents are killed, Ari runs away to Austin, Texas where she gets a job at Rooster Teeth. She meets Ryan Haywood and the two of them become very close. However, after spending time with a certain Joel Heyman, Ari starts to realise she is changing. Now her biggest fear is if Ryan will still accept her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's the End of the World as we Know It

They said the world would end in fire, they send the world would end in ice. Hell, the human race went as far as to say the world would end by zombies or some deadly virus that some evil scientist would unleash. Well, it wasn’t fire, ice or zombies that brought the world to a standstill for a few years yet it wasn’t a deadly virus either. Or…maybe it was. I guess being turned into a vampire makes you dead, right? Either way, nobody saw this coming. The people who made the virus didn’t even want to release it. It was just something they thought would be a fun past time. That is until some of their little concoction got out and started infecting people.

Now, when people say vampire you think of those ugly, soulless ones from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Or the vampire Dracula, the one that Bram Stoker cooked up. The vampires that the scientists ended up making were apparently still their former selves. They just had fangs. They could go to church, eat garlic, walk in the sunlight and all that jazz. Another thing about the virus was that it only effected certain people. We weren’t sure what those people had in common, the creators never giving us even a hint. Experts from around the world tried all kinds of tests but found nothing. It was strange.

I was currently getting ready for my move down to Austin, Texas. The virus had come to my small town in Canada and I had heard stories of some of those who had been turned, stories that told me they didn’t want to feed off the bagged blood that the government gave them. They wanted to live the true life of a vampire, stuck in the shadows and preying on innocent people. Some stories even said that the virus turned them insane and twisted their minds so all they could think about was getting the one source of nourishment. So when people drained of blood started popping up around town, my parents included, I ran. My bags were packed and I was waiting at the airport, ready to start a new life. There wasn’t really much left for me in my small home town. I didn’t have many friends and my family never talked to one another anymore so it wasn’t like I was leaving behind a bunch of heart broken people.

My name was Arianna Pearce and I know this is a kind of late introduction but I’m never good with talking about myself. I had dark red hair that fell around my pale face in soft waves and dark green eyes. There was a smattering of freckles across my small nose that kind of drifted over onto my cheeks. I had been twenty-six at the time and had recently been offered a job at an internet company in Austin. Rooster Teeth made amazing Youtube videos and I had been a fan since I was seventeen. I took classes in animation just so I could apply there but what I really wanted to do was work in Achievement Hunter. So when a job popped up to work as a behind the scenes person for them I took the chance and sent in an application. They emailed me a week later asking when I could come down.

“Now boarding Flight 237,” a female voice said through the intercom. I got up and grabbed my carry-on bag, heading for the lineup by the gate. The flight wasn’t that bad, only a couple hours, and I soon found myself walking out into the hot Austin air. I was supposed to be picked up by someone from Rooster Teeth but I hadn’t seen anyone yet. I pulled my book out, deciding to get a few pages in while I waited, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I whirled around and found myself face to face with Ryan Haywood, one of the guys who worked at Achievement Hunter.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, smiling sheepishly. “Hi. I’m Ryan.” He held out his hand and I shook it.

“Arianna. But everyone calls me Ari,” I replied. “And you didn’t scare me. I just didn’t know who to expect.”

“Surprise!” Ryan said and I laughed. “Is that all your things?” He asked, pointing to the cart full of my suitcases behind me.

“Well, most of it,” I replied. “The rest is going to be coming sometime next week.”

“Why didn’t you send it down earlier and have it waiting at your place?”

“Because I don’t have a place yet?” I said, blushing. “I didn’t really have any time to find a house so I’m kind of just renting a hotel room until I find something. I’m hoping I’ll find one before everything else comes.”

“You don’t have any place to stay?” Ryan asked, concerned. He started pushing the cart outside and I followed.

“Well, I have the hotel room but other than that….no.” Ryan led me to a small blue car where he started to load my things into the trunk.

“That doesn’t sit right with me,” Ryan said. “Hotels are expensive and it’s not exactly healthy to be eating takeout every night.”

“You have a better idea?” I asked, getting into the passenger seat.

“Well…I have a spare room in my house,” Ryan replied. “Geoff just remodelled his spare room into a home theater or something like that so that won’t work. I doubt you want to move in with Michael and Lindsay since they’re trying for a baby. Meg and Gavin might have room, so would Jack.”

“I am going to be meeting everyone for the first time today!” I said. “I am not asking them to let me crash at their place until I find my own! That’s a pretty weird thing to do on a first day. I mean, for all you know I could be a serial killer!”

“Can’t be worse than what’s stalking the streets these days,” Ryan muttered.

“You mean the vampires?”

“I know none of it is their fault but some of the stories I’ve been hearing…well I’m less inclined to trust one.”

“I know the feeling,” I sighed. “They killed my parents a few weeks ago.” Ryan stopped at a red light and turned towards me.

“I am so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to bring it up. Oh god…that’s horrible.”

“It’s okay,” I tried to smile.

“Ari…”

“The light’s green,” I said. Ryan focused back on his driving. It was about an hour before we pulled into Rooster Teeth’s parking lot, Austin traffic really a horrific sight to see. Ryan led me to the Achievement Hunter office where we were greeted with Michael tackling Gavin to the ground and hitting him.

“Micool no!” Gavin squawked. “I didn’t mean it!”

“You son of a bitch!” Michael was red in the face, his eyes going crazy. “You did it on purpose and you know it!”

“Really guys?” Ryan sighed. “You’re going to scare the new kid off on her first day.” At once the two stopped and looked up.

“New kid!” They both yelled and jumped up.

“Welcome to hell!” Michael said.

“It’s nice to meet you!” Gavin said. Both of them started talking at once, getting louder so they could both be heard. Geoff finally came over and yanked them away, giving me some space.

“I am so sorry for those two idiots,” Geoff sighed. “Welcome to the AH Office Ari. Hope you don’t mind it being overly loud every day.” He introduced me to everyone, calling the editing group over as well. “You’ll be working with these fucks and trust me when I saw they’re worse than us.”

“It’s true!” Matt nodded.

“And I don’t know how I got talked into this but they want you to help out with the RT Shorts whenever you can,” Geoff added. “Joel said they need more actors for an upcoming short.”

“I’m not the greatest actor,” I said.

“Which means you’ll fit right in with them,” Geoff smiled. “Okay so Trevor, Matt and Kdin will run you through the editing process. Lindsay, can you give her a tour of the office later?”

“Sure thing!” Lindsay grinned at me and I smiled back.

“And then I guess you can head over to the Rooster Teeth side after that and meet with Joel,” Geoff continued. “Usually he’s over here but they have him doing lines for RvB. Sound good?”

“Sounds great,” I nodded.

“Alright! I’ll leave you to it then! As for the rest of you, let’s film Minecraft!” Geoff was met with groans as everyone went to their desks.

“I’ll see you after work,” Ryan promised before heading to his spot. I was then whisked away by the editing crew who spent the next hour and a half teaching me all about the editing software they used. It was pretty easy to understand, I only had to make sure everyone’s video and audio matched and that their names were burned.

“The hardest part is the actual editing of the footage,” Trevor said. “Because they so much funny shit that you want to leave it in but it might be too inappropriate or offensive. We have a special folder for that. It’s called the ‘Treasure Holder’. Our favorite deleted scenes go in there and it’s a shared file so everybody can see it. It’s great.” After that, Lindsay took me on a tour of both the Achievement Hunter building and the Rooster Teeth building. Since AH only took up a few rooms, it didn’t take long to go through it.

“There’s the actual AH office, Gavin’s office, the editor’s office and Steffie’s office,” Lindsay said. “And since they are really close together it makes it easier. The Rooster Teeth building is like a maze though so I think we’ll start with that one.” While on the tour, she introduced me to everyone. Everyone was really welcoming and, while Lindsay was right about the Rooster Teeth building being huge, it was easy to remember which path to take to get to the exit. After the tour, she dropped me off in front of the recording studio, telling me to just go inside. She waved goodbye and headed back for the AH office, leaving me to stand outside the studio for a moment. I knocked hesitantly and the door opened immediately, a smiling Burnie greeting me.

“Ari!” He said. “So glad you could make it! We’re just finishing up Caboose’s lines so why don’t you come on in?” He moved aside so I could enter. The studio wasn’t too big, only consisting of two booths. I could hear Joel’s voice coming from the first one, one of the RT staff listening to him talk. I followed Burnie towards him and we stood quietly as we waited.

“What does the red button do?” Joel asked in his Caboose voice. He waited a few minutes, making faces at us through the window before continuing on with his lines. I couldn’t help but giggle softly at what he was saying, picturing Caboose in my mind. After a few more minutes, Burnie called it quits and got Joel out of the booth.

“Joel this is Ari,” Burnie said when Joel approached us. “Ari this is Joel. He’s been working hard on a script for an upcoming short and we were hoping you’d be willing to be the star?”

“Um…I don’t know if I’d be good for it,” I said, blushing. “I’ve never acted in anything and I’m pretty sure I would fail at it.”

“Yeah well Joel isn’t the greatest either but that doesn’t stop him,” Burnie sighed.

“What?!” Joel looked hurt. “I am an amazing actor. People like me.”

“Anyways Ari the role is simple,” Burnie continued. “It’s basically this kid who gets hired and gets a really weird tour of the company. And I mean really weird. Think you’re up for it?”

“Um…sure,” I nodded.

“Perfect! I’ll leave Joel here to run the script with you then!” Burnie waved goodbye and left.

“So Ari,” Joel held his hand out. “Looks like we’ll be working together for a bit.”

“Seems like it,” I smiled and accepted the offered hand. As soon as I touched him, though, I yanked my hand away. He was freezing cold which, considering Austin was really hot that day, didn’t make sense. Even the building was warm. It was then I noticed the red ring around Joel’s brown eyes.

There were always two telltale features of a vampire. One was their eyes. They always had a red ring around them which grew depending on how hungry they were. The second one was how cold the person was. The virus that was released basically killed the people it infected but kept them alive in an undead state. With no blood pumping through the veins to keep the body warm, you were left with an icicle on legs.

“Yeah so I’m a vampire,” he said casually. “Hope that won’t be a problem.”


	2. Passing Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari and Ryan fall into a simple routine while living together and it's...nice. Ari likes staying with him. However, she learns something from Geoff about Ryan that leaves her worried about the gent.

I actually enjoyed living with Ryan. He was a pretty cool guy, not that I ever really doubted it. After work we’d just hang out, play video games or watch movies. Sometimes we’d just read and the quietness was nice. I forgot about looking for a place of my own until my things finally showed up but Ryan insisted we just unpack everything. I was uneasy about staying there full time but I couldn’t exactly afford anything nice yet so I allowed it. He made room for my things and we got into a routine. It was nice. It was normal.

Even Joel and I were falling into an easy friendship. We’d go out for lunch or hang out after work. He always made me laugh. My fear of him being a vampire went away quickly too, making things easier for both of us. It was fun. I was loving my new life and everyone in it.

It wasn’t until we started hearing about attacks close to Austin that things start to change.

“Three women were found dead last night in Dallas,” the news anchor said. “Authorities say they had bite marks on their necks and other places. This is the third time that a vampire has killed someone in Dallas and we are getting reports of other deaths nearby. Police advice people to stay indoors at night until the killer is caught.” Ryan swore and shut the TV off, shaking his head.

“It’s starting to get bad,” he muttered. “Whatever is leading those vampires to go rouge is spreading.”

“You seem to have a personal hate for them,” I said. Over the past few days I had noticed him getting in a worse and worse mood about the vampire attacks. Even before that he always had a tendency to avoid them if he could.

“Let’s just say they were the cause of some very bad problems,” Ryan replied. I didn’t push the matter further, not wanting to upset him even more. I went back to the book I was reading, wanting to get through the last few chapters, when Ryan suddenly laid down and rested his head on my leg.

“Excuse me,” I said, looking down at him. “What are you doing?”

“I’m tired.”

“So go to bed.” I tapped him on the head with my book.

“Too far away,” he whined.

“You’re a child,” I shook my head. “If you wanna nap then let me up, I’ll go read somewhere else.”

“But you’re comfy.”

“Get the fuck off of me,” I pushed at his head. “You’re heavy.”

“The only part of me that is on you is my head,” Ryan pointed out.

“Yeah and you’ve got a fat head! All that ego from being an internet star has gone to your head!”

“Rude!” Ryan laughed and sat up. “Fine, be that way.” He glanced at the clock and jumped up. “Oh fuck we’re going to be late for work!” I jumped up too and ran upstairs to grab my purse. I hopped down the stairs two at a time, almost running into Ryan at the bottom. We headed out the door and into his car, the two of us both wincing at the thought of Geoff waiting for us. He’d be so pissed for a whole five minutes. Traffic was with us thankfully so we made it with a few minutes to spare. As we headed for the office, Joel swung out of the office and purposefully crashed into me.

“Woah, watch where you’re going kid,” he teased, ruffling my hair.

“Fuck you, you did that on purpose,” I swatted at him.

“Maybe I did,” Joel shrugged. “Can’t prove anything.”

“I’ll see you in the office,” Ryan said tensely and brushed by us.

“He does not like me,” Joel said.

“He doesn’t like anyone,” I replied.

“Who’s a vampire,” Joel added. “He’s fine with you and everyone else. He hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” I shook my head. “He just…isn’t fond of you.” I finished lamely.

“Mmhmm,” Joel hummed. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over tonight. Pizza, movies and games galore.”

“Sounds perfect,” I grinned. I then noticed how red his eyes were getting. “Have you been feeding properly?”

“No,” Joel sighed. “My shipment is late and I don’t know why. I keep calling the company but they all say it’s delayed. I’m starting to get worried.”

“Maybe you cou-”

“Ari!” Geoff yelled from down the hallway. “We’ve got shit to record. Get over here!”

“Ah! I’ll see you later,” I smiled at Joel and hurried towards Geoff who was shaking his head.

“You guys were cutting it close as it was. You had no time to chit chat,” Geoff growled.

“Hey he ran into me, knocked me to the floor and probably gave me a concussion!” I said. “I’m suing!”

“Shut up and go load up GTA,” Geoff sighed but I could see a small smile. We started a long day of recording. Most of the guys wouldn’t be at the office next week so we had to get a lot of things filmed. By lunch, it felt like my eyes were burning from staring at the screen all morning. I sat back and stretched before rubbing my eyes.

“Alright lady and germs,” Geoff said. “Lunch time! Who wants BBQ?”

“Everyone,” Michael replied.

“Alright. Grab your shit and let’s get some!” Geoff said and everyone was up in an instant. The promise of food would always keep us going. Ryan looped his arm around mine and we followed the others out to the parking lot.

“So I was thinking we could make some pasta tonight and then do a few levels in Halo tonight,” Ryan said.

“Can’t. Joel promised me pizza and movies,” I replied. “But I will take you up on the offer for tomorrow.”

“You two seem to be getting awfully close,” Ryan muttered.

“Jealous?”

“I just don’t get it,” he shook his head. “When you came here you were terrified of him and now he’s your best friend.”

“Because there’s more to him than just a vampire Ry,” I said, leaning my head on his shoulder. “He isn’t like the ones back home.”

“I just want you to be careful.”

“I will,” I promised. “Thanks for caring.”

“Hey, it’s my job to look out for you,” Ryan smiled. “I’d be a terrible host if something happened. How would I ever make a business renting out my spare rooms if I start out with a bad rep?”

“I’m sure you could convince them,” I laughed.

“Hey! Lovebirds!” Michael yelled. “Hurry up or we’re leaving without you!”

 

“Hey pretty lady,” Joel poked his head over my shoulder. I was currently trying to finish editing a video. “Ready to go?”

“Mmhmm,” I nodded. “I just need to finish this up. Won’t be too long.”

“No problem.”

“I’ll see you later tonight Ari,” Ryan said as he passed me. I noticed he kept his eyes on Joel as he said that.

“No wild parties while I’m gone,” I said. “That’s my job.” Ryan laughed and gave my shoulder a squeeze before heading out.

“Why is he always like that to me?” Joel asked.

“Oh, don’t you know?” Geoff suddenly spoke up, peering his head over the computers. “His wife turned before she left. I think he figures she went rouge and took off with the kids to turn them when they’re older.”

“What?” I asked, sitting up.

“Ah…he didn’t tell you?” Geoff looked towards me.

“No! He just said one day he came home and she was gone!”

“Yeah um…from what I could understand she started going rouge and…well…she ended up hurting him,” Geoff said. “I’m guessing that’s why she left.”

“But he shouldn’t blame all vampires for that!” Joel protested. “The virus affects the minds differently.”

“Well, his wife didn’t turn from the virus,” Geoff replied. “She was forcefully turned by another rouge. Apparently he felt lonely and wanted a girlfriend.”

“Oh god…” I sat back in my chair. Why didn’t Ryan tell me?

“And because that vampire had gone bad, the virus was bad,” Joel finished.

“And she ended up hurting him,” I said.

“Not just her,” Geoff continued. “We didn’t have many vampires back then but all were accounted for and all had no signs of going rouge. The night Ryan got attacked was the only night anyone got attacked. His wife, along with the one who turned her and a few others, jumped him one night. She had called him saying something was wrong and to meet her. It was a trick. After that, he never trusted vampires again.”

“How’d he get out?” I asked.

“A few cops were nearby, having a smoke break. They heard him yelling and came to help,” Geoff sighed. “He was lucky. If they hadn’t been there, he might have been turned or worse.” I was silent after that. I quickly finished editing and then followed Joel out to his car. The ride over to his place was quiet and I stayed that way until the pizza was ordered and Joel flopped down beside me on the couch.

“Hey,” he said. “You going to be okay?”

“Yeah I just…I feel bad for him,” I replied. “That must have been hard, going through that entire ordeal by himself.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Joel sighed. “But hey, it’s the past right? We just need to show him not all vampires are untrustworthy.”

“Yeah.” I looked over at him again and saw that the red in his eyes were completely taking over his normal colour. “Joel, do you have any more blood left over?”

“No,” he winced. “It’s getting bad. I’m starting to get headaches and the sun is kind of hurting me too.” Biting my lip, I held my arm out so that my wrist was facing towards him. “What are you doing?”

“You need to feed,” I said. “The shipment is late.”

“Yeah but…Ari I can’t,” Joel shook his head and pushed my arm away. “Not you.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to hurt you,” he replied. “I could easily lose control.”

“You won’t.” I said and offered my wrist again.

“Oh really?” Joel didn’t believe me.

“Really,” I said. “Drink.” He stared at me for a moment, his eyes searching mine. Eventually he seemed to find what he was looking for and grabbed my arm. Instead of bringing it to his mouth, Joel yanked on it so that I was sitting in his lap, my legs straddling him.

“Much easier this way,” he muttered, nuzzling into my neck. He moved the shoulder of my shirt down a bit and I felt his teeth graze my skin. I sucked in a breath and Joel froze.

“It’s okay,” I said. He hesitated for only a moment before I felt him bite down. It didn’t really hurt. It felt more like the sting of a needle. Before I knew it he was pulling away and licking his lips, the red in his eyes dying down although not completely.

“Damn,” Joel looked shocked. “I didn’t know it’d be that good.”

“Isn’t blood all the same?” I asked.

“No,” Joel shook his head. “When we get it in the bags it’s cold and old and has an off taste. Still delicious but…weird aftertaste. You…wow. You’re amazing.” He bent his head again and licked at my neck where some blood had spilt. The doorbell rang and Joel yanked back, pushing me off of his lap and heading for the door. He checked the hallway mirror to make sure there was no blood on his face before opening the door and getting the pizza. He set it in front of me and went to the kitchen to grab drinks and some plates. “Now, let the movies begin!” He said as he sat back down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm


	3. Turning Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari is feeling weird but brushes it off. Ryan finally tells her the real story of what happened to his wife and kids. Joel has to break some bad news to Ari.

I didn’t feel good the next day. I didn’t know why, Joel and I didn’t stay up that late; I was home and in bed by midnight. As I looked at myself in the mirror I could tell that I was visibly paler than yesterday. Maybe I was catching the flu or something. Joel’s bite marks stood out bright on my skin and I winced. I was lucky that Ryan had already been asleep when I got back but I wouldn’t be able to hide from him now. Thank the stars for makeup.

After I was sure the bite marks were covered up, I headed downstairs. Ryan was fixing himself a cup of coffee and turned to smile at me as I entered the kitchen. The story Geoff told me yesterday about Ryan’s wife came back and I suddenly felt sad again.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ryan asked, his eyebrows drawing together.

“I just…Ryan, what really happened to your wife?” I asked.

“I told you, she-”

“Geoff said something yesterday,” I blurted out and annoyance crossed Ryan’s face.

“And what did he say?”

“That your wife was turned by a rouge vampire and they attacked you…” I said quietly.

“Fucking ass doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut,” Ryan sighed. “Yes, that did happen. I wasn’t lying when I said she just up and left with the kids but I wasn’t telling the whole truth.”

“So what really happened?” I asked.

“I thought Geoff told you.”

“I want to hear it from you.” Ryan sighed again and motioned towards the dining table. We sat down and I waited as Ryan collected his thoughts.

“Everything was fine at first,” he started. “She was the same person as before. It wasn’t until a month had passed, and she started having these dreams. The vampire who created her was calling to her through her dreams apparently and she started losing herself then.” He paused for a second, taking a deep breath. “She would go out at random hours and stay out all night, she refused to go to work and she wouldn’t talk to me or the kids. Actually, she completely ignored the kids. Then one night, around two, she called and said something happened and she needed help. I got up and went to go meet her but as soon as I showed up…”

“Ryan,” I whispered. He gave me a sad smiled and pulled down the collar of his shirt so I could see multiple scars lining his lower neck.

“And now you know,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

“It’s the past now,” Ryan shrugged. “You should know anyways. Why I’m always so…rude to Joel.”

“I figured it was because you were jealous,” I said.

“Jealous?” Ryan repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Yup,” I nodded. “Jealous because someone else is stealing my attention and is threatening your ability to become my BFF.”

“How dare he! I had BFF dibs first!” Ryan said in mock outrage. “Who else am I going to braid hair with and talk about guys?” The last bit was full of sarcasm and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m sure Meg would love to do that,” I replied, recalling how the guys had teased him the other day about Meg.

“Not you too!” Ryan whined.

“I can’t help it. It bugs Gavin too much,” I shrugged.

“What about me?!”

“We should get going to work!” I bounded out the door, Ryan following me while grumbling the whole way.

 

“Alright assholes and lady,” Geoff said. “I think it’s about time our newest addition proves herself.” There was a collection of “oooooh”s around the room. “Ari, you are going to plan a heist!”

“A heist?” I asked, excited.

“Yes. A heist. I want it ready to go in four days,” Geoff said.

“Four days?! What kind of time is that?!” Michael asked.

“Enough time to prove she’s capable of meeting a deadline,” Geoff replied. “You up for the challenge?”

“Sir, yes sir!” I said and saluted. “Permission to skip out on the rest of the day to plan?” I asked sweetly.

“Ha! No. Load up Halo you little runt,” Geoff shook his head. A heist! I was going to be able to plan a heist! I already knew exactly what I wanted to do. While Halo loaded up, I grabbed my phone and sent an email to someone very near and dear to the AH Community.

“ _Yo, Brownman. Name’s Ari, I’m with the Fake AH Crew. How’s about you and I talk gun to gun? The boys and I are planning on robbing you. Bring as many people as you wish.”_ I sent the message, thankful that Ray’s email had been kept around the office in case the guys wanted to bug him. Just as I was about to start recording I got a reply.

 _“You’re on Ari. Name your time and place. You guys are going down.”_ I started cackling like a lunatic, causing the others to question what was going on but I waved them off and told them that’d they’d find out later.

The Let’s Plays went good and I had a lot of time in-between to actually plan.

The story would be that Ray came and robbed us while we were out and he stole a bunch of shit and sold it for a lot of money. Michael and Gavin would be in charge of going over to his hideout and trying to distract him while Jeremy, Jack and Geoff killed whoever was patrolling the area. Ryan and I would go in guns blazing, because Ray would be heavily guarded while talking to Michael and Gavin, and we’d take out the rest. Then, we’d kidnap Ray and force him to give us the money or we’d kill him. It was easy! It was perfect! There was no way the idiotic Fake AH Crew could mess it up! And hey! We could even rob a store as celebration.

I ran the details by Ray, only including what he’d need to do; I had to keep some element of surprise. He was cool with it and said he’d check out around the GTA map for a good spot to hide out. I was so excited for this to happen but I had to keep it secret. The boys couldn’t know Ray was in on it. By the end of the day I was humming with excitement and everyone was giving me weird looks.

“What is up with you today?” Ryan asked, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

“Nothing!” I sang.

“How come I don’t believe you?” Ryan grinned down at me.

“I have no idea,” I shrugged. “I have such a sweet and innocent face. Anybody would believe me.”

“You’re up to something!” Michael said, popping up behind us.

“No I’m not!” I said.

“Yup, she’s guilty of something,” Jeremy nodded.

“We have to find out what though!” Gavin piped in.

“Team Lads Undercover Detectives!” Michael yelled. “Jeremy! Get the sunglasses! We’re going….undercover.” Jeremy started singing the James Bond theme as the three of them snuck down the hallway. I laughed and shook my head at them.

“So, who wants to go out for dinner tonight?” Geoff asked. “Jack’s treat!”

“I’m in!” I yelled and raised my hand. The Lads all yelled their approval and Ryan shrugged and said he now had no choice while pointing at me.

“Sweet! BBQ here we come!” Geoff whooped. Jack just shook his head.

“Don’t worry Jack,” I said, looking back at him. “I volunteer Ryan to pay for half.”

“Wait a minute!” Ryan yelled. “Do I get a say in this?”

“Nope.” We all agreed on a really nice steakhouse not too far from the office and headed over. We were seated immediately and started ordering drinks. I ordered a virgin peach and strawberry daiquiri while the guys just ordered mixed drinks, excluding Ryan who only got a diet coke.

I already knew that I was getting a filet mignon because why the hell not. Actually, the restaurant had a really yummy sounding mignon that had crab meat and a hollandaise sauce on top so I had to try it.

“So, Ari,” Geoff turned to me. “What’s it like, living with the Mad King? I mean, he has to be just as weird at home as he is at work.”

“Well…I was concerned when I found a cow in the basement but according to Ryan, he just likes fresh milk in the morning,” I replied. “But things got really strange when he put a kilt on and demanded I call him ‘Your Highness’.” The guys roared with laughter.

“I knew it!” Michael crowed. “I bet he’s like that in bed too. We’ll have to pay someone to sleep with him and find out.”

“Pay?” I asked. “Just ask anyone on the internet. They’d just _love_ to jump into bed with him.”

“She’s got a point,” Jack laughed.

“Hey, I can’t help that I am an attractive man!” Ryan said, smiling. Just then the waiter came by and we placed our orders. I asked for my steak to be rare, which was weird since I usually got medium rare but for some reason I just wanted a rare steak that night. I wasn’t the only one who caught it either. The guys gave me a funny look, all of them knowing how I always got my steak. We ended up talking about it in a Minecraft video and it stuck with them.

“Rare, huh?” Ryan asked once the waiter left.

“I don’t know why I asked for that,” I replied.

“Aha! More secrets!” Michael said. “You are up to something and the TLD will get to the bottom of it!”

“TLD?” I asked.

“Team Lads Detectives is kind of a mouthful,” Michael shrugged. “Gotta shorten it up!” The rest of the evening went by in laughter. It wasn’t until we were getting ready to leave that I started to feel bad again. All the energy just completely drained from me and, while I tried to keep up an act for the guys, I knew Ryan noticed. After we had gotten to his car, he placed a hand on my forehead.

“You are burning up,” he stated, alarmed. “Have you been feeling like this all day?”

“Only this morning,” I replied, resting my head on the cool window. “After we got to work I felt fine. I don’t know why it came back all of a sudden.”

“As soon as we get home you are going to bed,” Ryan instructed. The drive back was silent and Ryan helped me up to my room since I could barely stand on my own. He got me into bed and ran to get a thermometer and a cold cloth. After taking my temperature, Ryan places the cloth on my forehead. The cold from the water felt amazing. “Well, you have a fever.”

“No shit Sherlock,” I mumbled.

“Guess we’ll have to see if it goes down by tomorrow,” Ryan sighed. “But if it doesn’t then you’re staying home.”

“No, please, the horror,” I said in monotone. “Stay home from work? Don’t say such things.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Ryan laughed. “Get some sleep.” He ruffled my hair and turned the light off and I fell asleep pretty quickly. It wasn’t the greatest sleep, I kept tossing and turning and waking up in the middle of the night for no reason. Eventually when my alarm went off, Ryan came in to check on me and deemed me too sick to go to work. He wanted to stay behind and look after me but I told him to go in. I just needed rest. After a bit he finally went in but promised he’d back right after work and made me promise to call if I needed him.

Once he was gone I lay in bed for a bit before getting up to make something small to eat. I soon realised my mistake of telling Ryan to go to work when a sudden sharp pain shot through my stomach. I doubled over, gripping my stomach, as the pain kept mounting. I thought I was going to pass out when it suddenly ended. I sat there for a second, gasping and wondering if it had anything to do with my fever, when another wave a pain hit me. This time it was much worse and lasted longer. When it finally died down I tried making my way downstairs to where I had left my phone. I had to stop a few times as the pains kept coming but I kept going, needing to get to my phone.

I nearly cried in relief when I got to it and dialed Ryan’s number, waiting for him to pick up.

“ _Hi, you’ve reached Ryan Haywood. I can’t come to the phone at the moment but please leave a message.”_

“God damn it Ryan,” I ground out. “Come home. Now.” I didn’t know what else to do. I had no car and Ryan’s house was a good distance away from the hospital so an ambulance would take forever. I finally dialed another number, hoping to God that they’d answer.

“Hello?”

“Joel,” I cried. “Joel you need to go get Ryan. Something’s wrong.”

“Ari? What is it? What’s happening? Where are you?” Joel asked, panic filling his voice.

“At home…” I panted. “In so much pain.” Joel paused for a second.

“Ari, where is the pain coming from?” He asked. His voice had gone a lot calmer.

“Stomach…and chest.”

“Did this just start?” I could hear distant voices and briefly wondered if he had gone into the AH office.

“Mmhmm,” I moaned as another wave hit me. “Started as a fever.”

“Fuck. Okay Ari, listen to me. It’s going to be okay. I’ve got Ryan here with me now, alright? Just stay where you are, don’t try to move. We’ll be over there soon.”

“Joel, what’s happening?” I asked.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. Ari…you’re turning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEIST WITH RAY HYPE


	4. Dying Sucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari wakes up and is now a vampire but will Ryan come to accept her?

“What’s happening to her?”

“Isn’t there someone to call?”

“She’s in so much pain! Someone do something!”

Voices surrounded me as I lay, curled up on couch, holding my stomach as the pain got worse. As soon as Joel said I was turning he hung up, leaving me to hyperventilate on the ground until he showed up however many minutes later with the entire AH Office in tow. He had lifted me off the ground and set me on the couch before calling someone and asking, demanding really, to get blood and morphine to the house.

“What’s happening to her?” Geoff asked again. Joel had just gotten off the phone and was now sitting beside me and holding my hand.

“She’s turning,” he said simply.

“Yeah okay but what does that mean?” Michael demanded. “Why is she in so much pain?”

“Because her body is dying Michael!” Joel yelled. “It’s how the process works. The body dies but…whatever makes up the person stays.”

“That makes no sense!” Gavin yelled.

“It’s all I’ve got okay?” Joel sighed. “There are people on the way to help out. We just need to wait.”

“What’s going to happen after she turns?” Lindsay asked.

“They’ll give her blood,” Joel shrugged. “They’ll have enough to supply her for the next two months or so. She’s going to need a lot as she adjusts. After that, she just needs to call when she needs more. She’ll still be the same person though, if that’s what you’re worried about.” My eyes went over to Ryan who was on the other side of the living room. He avoided my gaze and started out the window.

There was a knock on the door and Jack went to go answer it. Two people, a man and a woman, came in wearing light blue shirts and black pants. They were carrying a bag and as soon as they saw me, they rushed over

“How long as she been like this?” The woman demanded.

“About an hour now,” Joel replied.

“Steve, give me the IV,” the woman said. Steve handed it to her and she slid it into my hand. I barely registered it though. They set up an IV drip and started pumping pain killers through it.

“Karen, her eyes are already going red,” Steve said.

“Check her teeth.” They moved my top lip back and I heard the others gasp.

“Fangs are already there.”

“Jesus, she’s turning fast isn’t she?”

“That might be for the better. Go get the blood will you?” Karen left while Steve monitored me, checking my heartbeat and my blood pressure. Normal human stuff which didn’t make sense to me. If I was dying then why bother? I must have said it out loud because Steve looked down at me and smiled softly. “We check these things because we need to know how far long the process is. The lower the heartbeat and blood pressure, the closer you are. The fact that you already have your fangs and the red eyes means that this change is going a lot faster than normal. It’s not really rare but it’s uncommon for sure. Who changed her?”

“Nobody,” Joel replied. “She’s only been around me but I’ve never-”

“You the one who bit her neck?” Steve interrupted and motioned to the twin marks which I had forgotten to cover up. Actually, I was amazed nobody noticed it until then.

“Y-yes,” Joel looked down at me. “But it was for less than a minute. My order of blood is late and-”

“We’re starting to think that’s all it takes now,” Steve interrupted again. “The person still has to have whatever it is vampires have in common to change but even just being around one will trigger it.”

“So it might have nothing to do with him biting her?” Jack asked.

“It’s a fifty, fifty change here,” Karen replied, returning to my side with a cooler. “I would say it started as soon as she met you.” She nodded towards Joel. “But biting her might have sped it up. Either way, she was bound to turn. Even if she hadn’t met you. Few years from now and it would of happened.”

“How can you tell?” Lindsay asked.

“It’s just an estimate on our part but we believe that whatever changes a human to a vampire has to be woken up,” Steve explained. “As cliché as that sounds. Some would have already had that part of them awake which is why they turned so quickly. It takes longer in others though so they’ve just needed a little push. If she’s only changing now then that means…she would have had maybe another two years as a human.”

“But I sped it up,” Joel said quietly.

“Exactly,” Karen nodded. “Doesn’t really make sense, trust us we know, but it’s what we’ve got to work with.” The painkillers were starting to work and my stomach stopped feeling like it was being ripped out. Steve checked my heartbeat again.

“Alright, it’s slowing down,” Steve said. “Couple more minutes I would think.” The others started getting anxious.

“Hey Geoff,” I croaked out.

“Yeah?”

“I want a fucking funeral and you’re all going to cry at it,” I said. “I also want a huge cake.”

“Done,” he laughed. “We’ll have the whole company show up.”

“I can’t believe you,” Joel shook his head.

“What? I can’t make jokes?” I asked, nudging him with my knee. “Come on, gotta keep the mood light somehow.”

“She’s gone loopy!” Michael sighed.

“Drugs are bad Ari!” Jeremy said. “Don’t do them!”

“No Ari! Don’t go to the dark side!” Gavin chimed in.

“Too late,” I groaned. Ryan shot up from his chair and stormed out of the room, heading upstairs. We heard his bedroom door slam shut and I sighed. I was starting to feel lightheaded and sleepy, mostly from the drugs.

“Alright guys,” Karen stood up. “Why don’t all of you go wait in the kitchen while this happens. It’ll be easier.”

“But she may need us,” Lindsay protested.

“We’ll call if she does, okay?” Steve promised. They shooed everyone from the room.

“Alright sweetie,” Karen sat back down beside me. “Ready?”

“No,” I whispered.

“Just try to sleep,” Steve said. “You’ll wake up in a few hours.” To help me a bit they put in a bit more of the painkillers and while I tried to fight it for a bit, the drugs eventually won out and I fell asleep.

 

It was eerily silent when I woke up. I opened my eyes slightly and saw that I was in my room, the blanket drawn up to my waist. I was laying on my side facing the door and something felt…wrong. It suddenly hit me when something shifted on the bed and I tensed up. I sat straight up but arms came around me and stopped me from shooting out of bed.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Joel whispered. “Calm down Ari, it’s me.”

“Joel.” I gasped and clung to his arm.

“Hey sweetheart,” he rested his forehead on my shoulder. “How you feeling?”

“I-I don’t know. I can’t really feel anything right now,” I admitted. It was like being in shock or in a dream. I could see everything going on but I was out of it, my mine millions of miles away.

“It’s okay,” Joel said. “You’ll be okay.” He reached around me and grabbed a cup from my bedside table. “I’m going to need you to drink this okay? You’ll feel better in a minute.” I took the cup from him, already knowing what it was, and took a breath before gulping it down. It didn’t actually taste that bad and my head cleared a little bit. “Need more?” I nodded and Joel moved to a mini-fridge which now sat in the corner of my room.

“Why do I get a fridge?” I asked.

“I don’t think Ryan wants to see the bags of blood,” Joel said, grabbing one. “So I went out and got this.”

“Ryan…” I felt like I should be worried for some reason. There was something to do with Ryan… “Oh god Joel. Ryan. H-he must be freaking out right now.”

“Hey, hey, hey calm down,” Joel was at my side in an instant. He grabbed my cup and opened the bag of blood, pouring it in. “We’ll get to that after you feel better. Right now I want you to eat and clear your head.”

“Does he hate me?” I whispered.

“Why would he hate you?” Joel asked, confused.

“Because I’m a…” I couldn’t bring myself to say vampire. Joel understood anyways and smiled softly at me.

“It’ll be okay, I promise,” Joel said. “Now drink up. The others haven’t left and want to know that you’re alright.” I nodded and downed the second glass. He made me drink two more bags before deeming me safe enough to head downstairs. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, love. I do. But hearing the heartbeat and having the smell of them right there in front of you…it’s maddening when you’re hungry. I’m trying to make it easier on you.”

“Okay well, I think I’m good now,” I said and Joel nodded. He went first and I followed close behind him. I almost felt like I shoulder be gripping his shirt so I didn’t get lost. He was right though, about it being harder when I got downstairs. The smell hit me first and I sucked in a breath. Joel paused for a moment and looked back at me.

“Try not to breathe, okay?” I nodded and we headed into the living room.

“Ari?” Lindsay nearly cried and ran over but stopped when Joel held his hand up.

“Give her a moment,” he warned. Lindsay looked like she wanted to sweep me into a giant hug but held back. It felt like everyone was holding their breathes and waiting to see what I would do. I quickly scanned the room and my eyes fell on Ryan, who was staring at his feet.

“Ryan?” I said his name so quietly I didn’t think he heard me but then his head shot up and his eyes locked onto mine.

“Well, at least you’re okay,” Geoff said, breaking the silence. “You can take the next couple weeks off of work if you need to. Give yourself time to adjust. But I think we’ve overstayed our welcome here so we should give these two some time.” He motioned to the others and they all got up, heading for the door. Once everyone was gone I turned back to Ryan who had gone back to staring at his feet. I wanted to go to him and tell him everything was okay but instead I kept my distance.

I leaned against the wall and folded my arms, waiting for him to say something. The silence seemed to stretch on forever until he finally stood up and slowly made his way over. He still wouldn’t look at me and I began to worry. I had just become the one thing he hated.

“Do you want me to leave?” I finally asked, my voice quiet.

“What?” Ryan’s eyes shot to mine.

“I-if this is going to be a problem for you I can leave,” I could hear the quiver in my voice as tears stung my eyes. “Would that be easier?”

“I…” He seemed at a loss for words. Instead of answering, Ryan walked out of the room and headed upstairs, slamming the bedroom door behind him. I fell to the ground and wrapped my arms around my waist, a new kind of pain making my chest feel tight. I let the tears fall as my mind filled with thoughts I didn’t really want. After a few moments I dragged myself up and headed to my room, grabbing bags from the closet and stuffing clothes into them.

I tried to convince myself that it was better that way. Ryan wouldn’t have to be constantly reminded of the past. We’d only see each other at work and that would be that. We didn’t have to talk to each other or even look at each other. Just go to work, make videos and go home. It was simple and yet it felt like my heart was being shattered.

I gabbed everything I could; clothes, electronics, the blood bags, everything. I didn’t even look at Ryan’s door as I made my way downstairs and outside. I locked the door behind me and then slipped the key into the mailbox for Ryan to find later. After that, I started my walk to…somewhere. I had no idea where I could go. It was a good distance away from anyone but I couldn’t stay outside all night. Once I had made it a few blocks away from Ryan’s house, I called Joel.

“Ari? What’s up? You okay?” He answered on the first ring.

“Can you come get me?” I asked.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I replied. “I’ve just decided it’ll be easier to live somewhere else. I’ll only stay tonight and then I’ll find an apartment or something.”

“You’ll stay as long as you need to,” Joel said, leaving no room for an argument. “I’m on my way right now. Where are you?” I gave him the street name and then sat on a bus bench and waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't crying when I wrote this


	5. Helpful Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari needs to learn how to feed off humans. Her friends are there to help.

Joel set my bags down in the spare bedroom and went to go find some blankets. I sat on the bed and sighed, going over the night’s events. So Ryan basically hated me now; that much was clear. Work was going to be tough but we’d manage somehow. The others seemed okay with it, so that was good.

I ran my tongue over my teeth, feeling the sharp point of my canines. It was so weird, having them there. I’d have to get used to them, as well as the other advantages of being a vampire. I had noticed Joel didn’t turn any lights on and yet I could see everything clearly. Not to mention my hearing was better now and I could actually hear Joel moving around in the house. I had a feeling that would be the cause of many headaches.

“Hey,” Joel plopped the covers down on the bed beside me. “Where’d you go?”

“I’m just thinking,” I replied.

“About?”

“Everything that I have to get used to now,” I shrugged and got up, helping him make the bed.

“Yeah, it can be overwhelming at first,” Joel nodded. “You’ll get used to it. Plus, I’ll be there to help you.” We were silent for a bit, finishing up the bed, before Joel spoke again. “So, you wanna tell me what happened?”

“Hm?”

“With Ryan,” Joel said.

“Oh…” I sighed. “I asked him if he was going to be okay with this and instead of answering he…locked himself away in his room.”

“Ari,” Joel paused and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m sorry. I’ve completely ruined your life, haven’t I?”

“This isn’t your fault,” I sighed and hugged him back.

“I caused it to happen,” Joel pointed out.

“It was going to happen anyway,” I replied. Joel let me go and ruffled my hair.

“Get some sleep,” he said, moving to the door.

“Night.” I opened my suitcase and got out my PJs, quickly changing into them and crawled under the covers.

 

The smell of bacon woke me up. I grabbed a change of clothes and took a quick shower before heading to the kitchen. Joel was standing at the stove, eggs and bacon cooking away.

“Morning,” Joel greeted, smiling at me as I entered.

“Morning,” I replied.

“I made some tea.” Joel pointed to a pot and I grinned. Tea was always part of my morning, afternoon and evening, I couldn’t go a day without having tea, and I had made Joel get a tea pot and my favorite tea for whenever I was over. It was a black tea with cinnamon mixed in with it and I had been drinking it for years, ever since I found it. I fixed myself a cup and sat at the dining room table as Joel put a plate of food in front of me. Realising how hungry I was, I dug in and practically inhaled my food. Joel watched with amusement as he started in on his plate.

“So,” Joel started once I pushed my empty plate away. “Would you feel up to going into work tomorrow? I want to see how well you’ll do around that many people. I’ll be with you the entire time.”

“I-I should be okay,” I nodded and then winced. “I’m just worried about Ryan.”

“Don’t,” Joel almost snapped. “That man is a fool if he thinks you aren’t the same Ari who has been living with him these past few weeks. It’s better that he gets used to the idea now instead of building it up until it’s a giant elephant in the room.”

“If you say so…” I sighed. Joel got up and gabbed some blood from the fridge, tossing me a bag.

“Drink up,” he said and I did as I was told. “We’ll have to install your mini fridge into the AH office for the time being, that way it’s closer for you whenever you need it.” I nodded around the bag of blood in my mouth and waited until I had completely emptied it before saying anything.

“Sounds good,” I said. “I’m sure Geoff will love it.”

“Yeah well, he won’t have a choice,” Joel shrugged. “Unless he wants to be snacked on.”

“I would never bite them,” I shook my head.

“That’s another thing we need to work on,” Joel continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “There will be times where blood isn’t available right away, like what I went through. You do need to learn how to safely feed off of a human.”

“Great…”

“So I think that’s what we’ll learn today!” Joel nodded to himself.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“Come on! I’ll call someone over and you can practice,” Joel grinned.

“…um…” I bit my lip.

“It’ll be okay,” Joel assured me. “We’ll get someone from work, who’s willing to do it, and that way there will be more of a conscious telling you not to overdo it.”

“Is that how you did it?” I asked.

“Nope,” Joel shook his head. “But then again, I didn’t really have a teacher. I trained myself by going to bars and finding women who were okay with me biting them.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah and I figured you wouldn’t be okay with that so…” Joel shrugged. He picked up his cell phone and started going through the contacts, listing off names to me. “Geoff?”

“No,” I wrinkled my nose. No way in hell was I going to feed off my boss.

“Jack?”

“I think he’s busy today…” I tried to remember a conversation we had had earlier in the week. “I think his parents were going to stop by for dinner.”

“Gavin’s probably too big of a wimp to do it…” Joel muttered under his breath and I chuckled.

“He isn’t that bad,” I said, defending the British lad. Just as Joel was about to say someone else’s name, someone knocked on the door. Confused, Joel went and opened it.

“Oh, hey guys,” he greeted whoever was there. “Why are all of you here?”

“Well, we went by Ryan’s house to see if Ari needed anything,” I heard Lindsay replied and got up, peeking around the corner. Lindsay, Michael, Meg, Gavin and Geoff were all standing outside. “But when we got there, Ryan said she took off last night.” I headed back to the living room to wait.

“Uh…yeah,” Joel nodded. “Why don’t you come on in? We could actually use some help right now.” Everyone filed in and entered the living room, Lindsay and Meg heading right for me and giving me a hug.

“Hey sweetie,” Meg smiled. “How you feeling?”

“Fine,” I replied.

“Then why the fuck are you here and not at Ryan’s?” Michael asked.

“Michael!” Lindsay scolded.

“No, its fine,” I assured Lindsay. “I just…I didn’t want to make him uneasy or anything so I decided staying with Joel for the time being would be better.”

“You’re worried he might not like you anymore,” Geoff said. I winced but nodded.

“It’s not like he was giving any sort of indication that he _didn’t_ feel that way,” Joel growled. “The idiot would hardly talk to her last night.”

“I’m going to have a talk with that man,” Meg decided. “And I’m going to beat some sense into him.”

“You don’t have to do that Meg,” I said. “It’s fine, really.”

“Anyways, what did you need help with?” Gavin asked.

“She needs to learn how to safely feed off humans should there be any problems with her blood shipments,” Joel explained. “I was hoping one of you guys would be willing to help out…?”

“Sure!” Lindsay nodded. “Michael will help too!”

“Whoa, whoa wait a minute!” Michael yelled. “Since when do you get permission to agree to things for me?”

“Since you married me,” Lindsay replied.

“Gavin and I will help as well!” Meg said.

“Hey! We’re not married so you can’t do that!” Gavin protested.

“Yes I can!” Meg sang and pushed Gavin so he was sitting on the couch. “So, how we gonna do this?”

“Well, since there are more of you it makes it easier,” Joel said. “I guess everybody should take a seat. Ari, when you bite someone, bite them here, near the shoulder.” He tapped Michael’s neck to show the spot. “That way you don’t hit the jugular and cause a mess.”

“That’s it!” Michael threw his hands in the air. “I’m out!” Lindsay grabbed his hand and forced him to sit down.

“She won’t hurt you Michael,” Lindsay assured her husband, patting him on the knee.

“When you do bite them,” Joel continued. “Count to thirty. That way you don’t take too much from them but it’s just enough to tide you over until you can either find someone else or get a shipment of blood.” I nodded and Joel led me behind where Michael was sitting. “Okay so, it doesn’t take much for your teeth to pierce the skin. Just bite down lightly. And don’t worry Michael, you won’t feel anything.” Michael just huffed and I leaned down, moving his shirt collar away from his neck. I hesitated for a moment before opening my mouth and biting where Joel had told me. Michael tensed up for a second and I was about to let go but then he eased up.

As soon as my teeth pierced him, blood started flowing freely, but not too quickly, into my mouth. It tasted a hell of a lot better than the bagged blood, which would make sense because this was fresher than bagged blood, but it still caught me off guard. I also found that there was a flavor hidden under it. I couldn’t name it at first but then I realised it kind of tasted like chocolate…which was weird.

I counted to thirty and then let Michael go and Joel quickly put a cloth to the bite marks. The others were staring at me with a kind of wonder and I suddenly felt self-conscious.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing I’ve just…never seen a vampire feed before,” Geoff shrugged. I made a face and stepped away from Michael. We continued like that for a bit, switching everyone out so I didn’t do any real damage. Joel took out juice and snacks for those I had practiced on already. Once everybody in the room had gotten a turn I felt pretty confident that I wouldn’t accidently kill someone. I also noticed everyone tasted differently and when I brought it up to Joel, he nodded.

“It depends on what they’ve eaten,” Joel explained. “It’s more pronounced if it’s been recent too.”

“So, could she get drunk off of someone’s blood if they had been drinking?” Gavin asked.

“Yes,” Joel nodded. “Although I suggest staying away from people like that. Drunk people tend to make bad decisions but a drunk vampire? That’s completely different and ten times worse.”

“Not that it would matter anyways,” I shrugged. “I don’t drink so feeding off people at a bar isn’t high on my list.”

“Good,” Geoff nodded. “I’d hate to see you ruin your life at such a young age. Wait till you’re as old as me. _Then_ get a drinking problem.” We laughed and the others decided to spend the rest of the day at Joel’s, which Joel didn’t seem to mind, and soon we were playing video games and laughing our heads off at whatever stupid thing someone did. It was fun and it made me forget that my life had gone to hell for a bit. It was what I needed.

When everyone did leave, I promised Geoff I’d be in the next day and he assured me that if things got to be too much for me, I could leave whenever and he would understand. I thanked him and waved to the others as they left. Now, all I had to worry about was Ryan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been stuck for so long, trying to figure out how to write this. Hope you enjoy!


	6. This Sucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari and Ryan have a talk and, upset over what Ryan said, Ari leaves work to go calm down a bit.

The next day, Joel drove us to work and helped me install my mini-fridge into the Achievement Hunter office. There was a space in the corner beside the couch that was just big enough to fit the fridge. Once it was plugged in and ready to go, I filled it with blood bags and posted a note that said “For Ari only”. Thinking that was good enough, I sat at my desk and started editing some videos that had been neglected in my absence while I waited for the others. I soon became completely involved in my editing and didn’t notice anything going on around me. It wasn’t until Jeremy tapped on my shoulder that I saw the others had arrived.

“Earth to Ari!” Jeremy laughed. “Come on kid, you can’t zone out like that on us! You’re like a zombie!”

“Kid?!” I said in mock outrage. “I’m older than you shorty!”

“Hey!” Jeremy yelled. “That’s way below the belt!”

“You deserved it!” I countered, saving my work and closing the editing software down.

“Geoff!” Jeremy whined. “Ari is being mean to me!”

“He started it!” I defended myself.

“Shut up you two,” Geoff sighed, shaking his head. I grinned, accidently flashing my fangs at him before I noticed Ryan. He looked pale and there were bags under his eyes. My smile fell and I slumped in my seat as I realised how hard it probably was for him, to be near me. “Alright idiots, load up GTA!” We did as we were told and waited until all of us were in Geoff’s game before hitting record.

“Okay!” Geoff greeted the soon to be watching fans. “Today we are…well, I think I’ll leave the ‘what shall be doing’ up to our good friend Ari today.”

“Wait what?” I asked. Currently my character was just walking circles around Gavin’s as he gave me the thumbs up. Michael’s character dry humped his way in front of me and knocked me off my course and in return, I shot him.

“You shall decide what kind on antics our gang gets up to today,” Geoff replied. “So, come on! Wow us with your great ideas!”

“Okay,” I shrugged. “First one to kill Jeremy wins.”

“WHAT?!” Jeremy yelled.

“You get a thirty second head start,” I promised.

“But why me?” Jeremy demanded.

“Because,” I replied and then started a countdown. Jeremy yelled and started running, hopping in a car and taking off down the winding streets of Los Santos. As soon as I said thirty, the others were off. I stayed where I was and opened my emails on my phone quickly, sending one to Ray asking if he was ready to do the heist. I then turned back to the game and waited until Geoff eventually cried out that he killed Jeremy.

“Now what?” Jack asked.

“Now….all of you need to go and get the weirdest haircut and face paint you can find,” I instructed.

“Well, Ryan wins the face paint bit,” Michael said.

“Nope,” I shook my head. “He has to change his.” Ryan didn’t say anything, he just went with the others to one of the barber shops in the game. I decided to play along with that task and got a new haircut and face paint. Except mine wasn’t weird. Mine looked good.

When everyone was done we all met on the beach to show off our new looks. Geoff had his character go bald and he was wearing the Kiss My Axe face paint, Jack had cornrows now and was wearing The Bat face paint, Michael and Gavin had decided to do the same thing so both of them had long hair and the Serpentine face paint, Jeremy was now rocking an afro and had Trapped in a Box face paint and Ryan now had whipped cornrows and the clown face paint. They looked amazing and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s up with your get up?!” Michael demanded. My hair was now in a ponytail and I had the face paint that Ryan always wore under his skull mask.

“I have a plan!” I told him. “But that’s all you’ll get out of me for now.”

“No fair keeping secrets!” Gavin whined.

“Okay, so now for your third job, you all need to go to a clothing store and wear really bright colours. Don’t match anything either,” I laughed as they all groaned and then went to a different store than them to get my outfit. While they dressed up in bright colours, I went all black. Black dress pants, black high heels, black suit jacket and a black top hat.

“Why are we doing this?” Jack asked.

“Because…” I trailed off. “And you have to keep your characters like this until I say so!”

“What?” Geoff yelled.

“I has plans!” I repeated. “But plans take time and so you may not change until the plans are complete.”

“Fine,” Geoff groaned. “But these plans better be good.” Just then I got a reply from Ray saying he was good to go whenever and I grinned.

“Oh trust me, they will be.”

 

After the GTA recording, Geoff told everyone to go for a short break. I took the time to grab a blood bag from the fridge and headed over to the How To office since I knew Joel wouldn’t be weirded out by it. Sighing, I plopped down in the chair next to his and started on the bag.

“What’s up kitten?” Joel asked, his gaze fixed on the video he was editing.

“Mmpfh,” I replied.

“Sounds exciting,” Joel grinned and reached over to ruffle my hair. I finished the bag and threw it in the garbage can near Joel’s desk before turning back to him.

“Well so far so good,” I said. “I haven’t wanted to eat my co-workers yet.”

“Good!” Adam said from across the room. I flashed him a smile.

“And Ryan?” Joel asked.

“Hasn’t said a word,” I replied. “Didn’t really expect him too anyways.” Joel just shook his head, deciding making a comment wasn’t worth the time. Adam kept quiet too. Instead, the three of us just talked for a bit until I had to head back to the office. When I got in, Michael was showing off my mini-fridge to Gavin who was gagging.

“Come on Gavvy, it’s just blood,” Michael said, laughing.

“Really? Blood does it for you?” I asked as I watched Gavin try to close the fridge door.

“It’s not just because it’s blood,” Gavin said between gagging. “It’s _old_. Like, really old! How can you stomach that stuff.”

“I don’t have a choice,” I said, walking over to the fridge and moving Michael aside so I could close the door.

“Hey Michael,” Jack said, coming over. “You got a hickey or something what the fuck is on your neck?” Ryan had just walked in then and, intrigued by our conversation, wandered over with Geoff right behind him.

“Oh, this?” Michael pointed to where my twin bite marks were.

“Yeah,” Jack nodded, then happened to glance over at Gavin. “He has them too!”

“Yeah and so do I!” Geoff said, not wanting to be left out. “Ari gave them to us when we went over yesterday.”

“Wait…what?” Ryan finally spoke up, glancing between all of them.

“She needed to learn how to feed olden time style so we offered to help,” Michael shrugged and slung an arm around me. “How she can feed without killing someone! Ain’t that right Ari?” I didn’t anything, just glanced to the ground so I wouldn’t have to meet Ryan’s eyes. The others didn’t notice though. They were too busy telling Jack how weird it felt for me to bite them.

“It was, like, she was giving us this weird kiss on our necks,” Gavin started.

“But then she bit us and you could feel her teeth!” Michael cut in.

“But that’s not the weird part either,” Geoff supplied.

“Do I want to know what the weird part is?” Jack asked. He was looking queasy from their explanations and I didn’t blame him. I listened to them talk for a bit longer before heading to my seat and started editing some videos. Someone sat down beside me and I thought it was Jeremy at first but when I looked over I saw Ryan. I took my headphones off and turned towards him.

“Hi…” I said, unsure of why he was beside me.

“Can we talk?” He pointed to the door. I nodded and followed him out of the room. I thought he was going to stop in the hall but then he led me outside.

“So, what’s up?” I asked when he finally stopped walking.

“You bit them,” he replied flatly. He hadn’t turned around to look at me and I could see his hands clenched into fists.

“Yeah,” I said. “Joel said I needed to learn how to feed off people safely in case I couldn’t get a shipment of blood in on time. I wasn’t comfortable going up to some random person and doing it and they offered. Is that the only reason why you wanted to talk?” I crossed my arms and leaned against the building.

“No…” Ryan sighed and turned around, his blue eyes meeting mine for the first time since I turned. He looked sad and tired, his face paler than normal. I hadn’t really gotten a good look at him when I first came to work but now it was noticeable. “I…I just…I wanted to apologize for how I acted. Things are probably scary for you right now and I didn’t really help.” Hope welled up inside me. Was he going to allow me to come back? Could we still be friends?

“Ryan, it’s okay. Really. I understand-” I took a step forward but paused when he stepped away.

“However,” Ryan continued. “I can’t be around you anymore. I just…what happened before with my wife…I’m sorry but I can’t. It just keeps bringing it back up.” I stood there, frozen, feeling my heart breaking apart. I blinked and started walking backwards, towards the road.

“It’s fine,” I said, forcing a smile. I could hear my voice crack as I fought back tears. “I totally understand. Um…I think I’m going to head home early so if you could just tell Joel to grab my stuff after that’d be great.” Ryan looked like he wanted to say something but I had already turned and was quickly walking away. I left the parking lot and headed into a random direction, just wanting to be alone.

So he didn’t want to see me anymore. Okay, fine, he can have that. I shouldn’t care, right? I mean, I knew it was going to happen, I knew it as soon as the turn started. Sighing, I decided to figure out where exactly was I and then go from there. A quick look at the streets told me I was only a few blocks away from Joel’s but I didn’t exactly want to go there and mope so I went to a coffee shop and sat at the farthest table, going through Twitter on my phone while sipping a vanilla and banana frap.

I spent a few hours there, going back up to the counter every so often to get another drink, just getting caught up on different articles or seeing what my friends were up to back home. It wasn’t until around three that I decided I should head back to Joel’s. However, just as I was about to get up, someone sat down at the table.

“He’s a real jerk, isn’t he?” I looked up and saw a woman with brown eyes and dirty blond hair. She was wearing a blue sundress and had her hair tied into a bun.

“Who is?” I asked quietly. I could tell she was a vampire, her skin was pale and I couldn’t feel the warmth of a human coming off of her.

“Ryan,” she sighed. “Never did like us much.”

“Who are you? How do you know Ryan?” I demanded.

“In time, young one,” she smiled. “Anyways, you’d best be off! I bet your friend Joel is worried sick about you. It was nice to meet you Ari.” The lady got up and walked off and I sat there blinking for a few moments, wondering what the hell just happened. I eventually got up and headed back to Joel’s, seeing his car parked in the driveway. Wincing, I headed to the door and opened it, trying to be as quiet as possible. It didn’t work, however, seeing as I heard Joel jump up from the couch and come running to me.

“Ari!” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him. “Where the hell were you?”

“Having coffee,” I replied.

“Are you okay?” He asked, pulling back a bit. “Ryan told me what happened and I nearly tore his head off. That fucking idiot I swear I will kill him one of these days.”

“Joel, it’s fine,” I sighed. “Really. I didn’t expect anything less.” I moved way from Joel and went to the fridge, grabbing a bag of blood and popping it open.

“Still, he shouldn’t have said that to you,” Joel insisted. “Not now anyways. You’re still getting over the turn.” I waited until I was done feeding to answer and Joel did too. He headed into the living room and turned the TV on and I followed once I had thrown the bag away.

“I would rather he tell me now then wait and get my hopes up that maybe he could accept me,” I said, sitting down beside Joel who threw an arm over my shoulders. “At least this way there isn’t any illusions about that.” So why did it still hurt? It must have shown on my face because suddenly Joel was hugging me again.

“It’s not just that and you know it,” he whispered against my hair.

“I just wish there was a way he could see I’m still the old me,” I said into his shirt.

“He’ll come around,” Joel assured me. “Want me to talk to him?

“No,” I shook my head. “It wouldn’t help. I have to do it on my own.”

“Okay,” Joel let me go and ruffled my hair. “Feel like doing anything tonight?”

“No, I’m kind of tired,” I sighed. “I think I’ll just go to bed.”

“Okay,” he said and kissed my forehead. “Night.”

“Night,” I smiled and headed to my room. I needed a plan. Ryan had to see I was the same Ari he met when he picked me up from the airport. I couldn’t live the rest of my life knowing he hated me, hated what I had become. I wanted him to be my friend, wanted to hang out every day like normal.

I sat on my bed thinking for a bit, trying to figure out the best way to approach this, when an idea struck. I grabbed my phone and sent an email to Geoff, telling him my plan and that I needed him to be at the office early the next day. He replied quickly, telling me he’d do it and I smiled. Tomorrow was going to be an…interesting day to say the least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who was that mysterious woman? What is Ari planning? Stay tuned for our next episode!


	7. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ari has a plan but she doesn't like it. However, if it means Ryan will accept her in the end, she'll do it.

“Alright guys!” Geoff clapped his hands together. “So, I’ve been thinking. This office is just way to small for seven of us in here all the time so…Ari, I’m sorry but you’re getting your own office. All to yourself. The horror you must be feeling right now.”

“Geoff please,” I said dramatically. “Why are you doing this to me? Kick Gavin out.”

“What?! Why me?” Gavin squawked.

“Yeah, what brought this on Geoff?” Jack asked.

“Well, take a look around,” Geoff gestured to the room. “We have very little walking space now. I just think it’d make things easier if she wasn’t here all the time. I talked with her about it earlier and she agrees. We’ve already moved her fridge into her new office. She’ll be here for Let’s Plays and shit but everything else, she does in her office.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Michael cut in. “I’ve been here way longer then her. Where is my office?”

“In the closet,” Geoff replied. “Alright! Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s play some games!”

My plan had been simple; keep me away from Ryan as much as possible. The complete opposite of what I really wanted but it had to be done. I was hoping that not seeing me as much, and hopefully not at all on some days, would trigger something.

“Alright, first up is GTA,” Geoff announced. “Ari has had enough time to finish her heist so let’s go film the intro to it and then we’ll be ready to go!” All of us got up and headed to the meeting room where they arranged themselves around the table as I set up the map. Once all cameras were recording, I got to work on telling the plan.

“We’ve got a problem boys,” I said. “There seems to be a rival gang started up in the area and they seem to know a good deal about us. I had some guys go in and scope the place out, get as much information as I could, and what they found out shocked me.” I threw a couple of pictures down and the guys burst out laughing. Ray had sent me pictures of him making idiotic faces at the camera. “Ray Narvaez Jr. has been running the show and he plans on taking over the city.”

“We can’t have that!” Michael yelled. “That prick! How dare he betray us!”

“My thoughts exactly,” I nodded. “So, here’s what we do. Team one will surround the area Ray’s gang hangs out and team two will lay sticky bombs on all their vehicles so they can’t escape.”

“Question!” Geoff raised his hand. “Are we killing every single person in there?”

“Yes,” I replied. “No survivors! We must send a message to the other gangs. No one takes over our city! Now, team one will be Geoff, Jack, Gavin and Jeremy. Team two will be myself, Michael and Ryan. Once their cars blow, the rest of you run in and start shooting.”

“Do we have code names?” Jeremy asked.

“Duh,” I grinned. “Geoff, your code name is Patchy. Jack, you’ll be Redmane. Ryan is Diet Coke. Gavin will be Wanker, Michael is Saucy and Jeremy is Four Foot.”

“Wanker?!” Gavin repeated. “I am not!”

“Yes you are Gavvy!” Michael laughed. “You’re a wanker alright!”

“So!” I said before they could continue. “We load up on bullets, you guys already have your outfits on thanks to before-” They all groaned at that. “-and all we have to do is go in and kill everything. Sound good?”

“Sounds good!” Everyone nodded.

“Let’s go!”

 

We were in my apartment in GTA, Gavin and Michael getting drunk and the others talked to each other. I was sending a quick invite to Ray and his friends so they could get set up and then we’d start the heist. Once I was sure everything was ready to go, we hit record and headed off. Our first stop was the gun shop, all of us loading up on everything we could possibly need and then some.

“Everyone ready?” I asked as we left the shop and got to our cars.

“Yup!” Came their replies and I grinned.

“Then let’s go get the fucks,” I said and we jumped in our cars. Ray set up his friends out of the city in the trailer park that was used as Trevor Phillips home in the actual game. While Team One set up, Michael, Ryan and I got to work on putting down sticky bombs. We could see Ray and his ‘gang’ off to the side doing random shit and I couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. This was so much fun.

“Bombs are in place,” Ryan said.

“Ready to go,” Michael added.

“Okay. Blow them in three…two…” I hit the button and the bombs I placed blew up, followed by Ryan and Michael’s. As soon as they went, Ray’s gang turned and started firing. Jack, Jeremy, Geoff and Gavin came running out of hiding, returning the bullets. We had our headset mics on so we were able to talk to Ray and the others, although it consisted of a lot of insults.

“You mother fucker!” Michael yelled at Ray. “How dare you betray us!”

“YOLO!” Ray yelled back.

“Guys!” Gavin yelled. “I’m almost dead! I’m almo-GAH!” Gavin fell silent as his character died.

“No!” Jeremy yelled and killed the person who killed Gavin.

“Ray! I’m going down!” Tina said. I was currently fighting her, both of us hiding and shooting around our cover.

“I’m coming!” Ray yelled and started running over to us. He was about to shoot me when Ryan’s character shot him down.

“Ha! Ray’s down!” Geoff cheered.

“I’ve almost got-” Jack started but fell silent.

“Jack? Jack!” Jeremy yelled. “We lost Jack!”

“Finish them off!” I yelled and started mowing down people left and right. Ryan, Jeremy, Geoff and Michael grouped around me and we killed off the rest of them. The others started cheering as I ran around and collected any money dropped from Ray’s crew.

“Wow, that heist went surprisingly well,” Michael said. “Oh hey! We could totally steal the cars they have over here and sell them for more money! Look, there’s enough for all of us.” Everyone walked over to where Michael was just as he was getting into one car. “Oh, I like this on-” Before he could finish, an explosion went off and all our characters died.

“What?!” Jeremy yelled. “WHAT?!”

“They were bombed!” I cried. “They tricked us!”

“If I go down, you’re going down with me!” Ray’s laughing voice came through our headphones.

“You son of a bitch!” Michael yelled. “No! We won! We won!” The rest of us started laughing as Michael threw his headphones down and pretended to storm off, yelling about how Ray was a bastard. Everyone gathered in one spot and just started walking around doing different gestures to each other.

“I can’t believe that,” Geoff said. “You sneaky son of a bitch.”

“Let’s stop!” Ray said.

“That’s my line!” Geoff yelled and shot Ray again.

“Let’s stop!” I repeated and killed my recording. The rest followed suit and I thanked Ray for being there. We talked for a bit and goofed around in GTA before Geoff said we had to get back to work.

“Well, that was fun,” Gavin said, grinning.

“Yeah, I believe that was one of the best heists we’ve done,” Geoff agreed. “Good job Ari.”

“Awe guys stop, you’re making me blush,” I laughed.

“Break for coffee and then come back for some Worms?” Geoff threw out there as he got up and stretched. There was a chorus of ‘okay’ before everyone got up and left. I headed for my new office, brand new with no one else in it, and sat down at my computer. I wasn’t needed for Worms so I could get other things down as I waited; like the millions of videos that had to be edited. As I waited for my computer to start up, I grabbed a bag of blood and started drinking it. With a bag in one hand, I started the editing program with the other and pulled a Things to Do to edit. It was kind of hard to edit and feed at the same time but I somehow managed without spilling any blood. With my morning snack out of the way, I lost myself in the mindless work of editing and putting together videos. It wasted a good chunk of the morning for me and, after a few videos were done and ready to upload, I decided to go bug Joel for a bit.

He was editing videos in the How To office when I pulled a chair close to him and plopped down beside him, sighing.

“Hey kitten,” he greeted without looking away. “What’s up?”

“The guys are recording and I don’t want to edit anymore,” I replied. “So I came to bug you guys.”

“You’re always welcome here!” Adam said from his desk. “We were going to film a How To today anyways. Wanna join?”

“Love to,” I grinned.

“How’s your master plan going?” Joel asked quietly.

“Well, I have my own office,” I said. “Geoff gave me a pretty big budget to work with so I can fill it with stuff and Ryan hasn’t looked at me all day. So, pretty good.” He reached over and rested his hand on my knee, squeezing it lightly before going back to work.

“It’s only day one,” he reminded me. “Things will turn around soon.”

“Anyways, we should get to recording if we want it done before lunch,” Adam said, wheeling his way over to us. “We’re playing a super scary game so you’ll have to hold Joel’s hand the whole time.” He added to me.

“I do not need my hand held!” Joel said defensively. “It’s you who ends up crying and screaming like a girl at the end!”

“As if!” Adam replied. The two went back and forth like that for a minute and I couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped me as I watched them.

“What are you laughing at?” They asked in unison, turning to face me.

“You two,” I laughed again. “You’re like an old married couple sometimes, the way you argue.”

“Hey!” Adam head locked me and gave me a knuckle sandwich. “We are not!”

“Yeah, there is no way I’d marry that thing,” Joel pointed to Adam.

“Oh? Am I not good enough for you?” Adam asked, letting me go.

“I prefer people with less hair on their face,” Joel replied. “You’ve got too much. Go shave it and then we’ll talk.”

“How dare you!” Adam said, faking anger. “Trying to get me to change for this relationship! That’s it! We are over Joel! Over!” He got up and stormed off to his computer, leaving me laughing like crazy while Joel just sat there.

“Did he just break up with me?” Joel asked me as I just continued to laugh. “He broke up with me! That’s not how it works!”

“I want half of everything you have!” Adam said.

“I don’t have anything as it is!” Joel replied.

“Okay, okay guys,” I said between giggles. “We have a video to record.”

“I will not record anything with that man until he apologizes!” Adam huffed.

“And I will not record anything with that man until he apologizes!” Joel crossed his arms and pouted.

“You two,” I sighed and shook my head, smiling.

In the end, we did record a video but both of them were pretending to be pissed off at each other and I had to be the one to relay messages to them. If Adam wanted Joel to do something he would look at me and said, “Ari, please tell Joel I need him to press X” and Joel would do the same. It was actually a lot of fun because then I got to mess them up and say the wrong thing, much to my amusement. By the time the video was done, they had forgiven each other and all was normal again.

After that, we headed out for lunch, running into the AH guys as we left the office.

“Oh look! First she moves out and then she betrays us!” Michael exclaimed. “What a two-timer!”

“You guys aren’t any fun,” I replied. “Gotta hang out with the cool guys.”

“Hey!” Geoff whined. “We are fun! And cool! Cooler than that fossil!” He pointed at Joel who flipped him off.

“Guys please,” I stepped between them. “Joel and Adam just got over their own divorce, I don’t want to help you two out now too!”

“Divorce?” Gavin asked. “You two are married?!”

“Not anymore we’re not,” Adam replied.

“What happened now?” Jack sighed. So, Joel and Adam started on their story of how the other person was in the wrong which started up a whole new argument between them. The rest of us were laughing our asses off watching the two idiots.

“Where are you guys going for lunch?” Geoff asked once we calmed down a bit.

“I was thinking burgers,” Adam said, looking at Joel who shrugged.

“I ate earlier so I’m not too hungry,” Joel replied. “Wherever is fine with me.”

“Same,” I added.

“Then let’s all go for burgers,” Geoff nodded and turned to the others who all agreed. I noticed Ryan didn’t really say anything and, worried he didn’t want to be there because I’d be there, I made up an excuse to stay behind.

“You know, I just remembered,” I said, pausing. “Miles said he wanted to talk to me about something important. I’ll catch up to you guys.” I headed off before they could answer, heading into the Rooster Teeth building. I watched from inside the doors as they all left and then went back to my office and plopped down at my desk.

I buried my face in my hands and sighed, feeling exhausted. This was harder than I expected. I was now forcing myself away from my friends just to make it easier for him…If that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was. I froze as soon as I thought that, my mind rolling over the word. I suppose I did love Ryan…maybe not in the way that you would with someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with but in some way. I shook my head, knowing that I was lying to myself but it had to be done. The ringing from my phone broke me from my thoughts and I blindly grabbed for it.

“Hello?” I answered, my voice kind of muffled from my hand.

“He’s still being a jerk, huh?” A woman asked. I sat up straight, instantly recognizing it as the woman from before, the one who found me at the coffee shop. “First he throws you out and now he’s making you stay behind while your friends have fun. How sad.”

“Who are you?” I demanded. “How did you get this number?”

“Now, where would be the fun in telling you?” She laughed. “But seriously Ari, you should talk to him about these things, make him see reason. You’ll drive yourself mad with this little plan of yours. Not that being mad is bad.” She laughed again and a chill ran down my spine.

“Why are you doing this?” I whispered.

“I want to help you!” She replied. “I know how much it hurts to have your heart broken. It pains me to see someone else go through it. You’re so young and yet you’ve had this life thrust upon you and now the man you desperately want to be with despises you. But there is a way around it.”

“…How?” I heard myself ask. This lady was obviously insane and was apparently stalking me but…I couldn’t help but ask.

“Why, you just turn him of course,” she said. “It’s very simple. Just open a vein, pop it too his mouth and voila! You’ve got your very own vampire boy toy. Isn’t it great?”

“No. I will not do that to him,” I growled.

“Hm. Too bad,” she sighed. “This could have gone much easier. Ah well, I guess I’ll just have to do something about it.”

“Don’t you dare hurt him!” I nearly yelled. “Why are you doing this? What do you want?”

“All good things to those who wait,” she replied. “Of course, it is quite obvious who I am. I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet. Ta-ta.” She hung up and I sat there, frozen with the phone still at my ear, staring at the wall. A million thoughts were going through my mind; what was going to happen to Ryan? What did she mean? Who was this woman?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -tense music plays in the background-


	8. Not a Chapter but a Message to the Readers

Hey guys. I'm going to be taking a break from this work for a while. I kind of lost track of where the story was going to go and it's not coming back to me. I'm still working on my other works though but this one just got away from me for the time being. I may come back to it later and continue on but for now, no more chapters will be added. I'm sorry about this, I had been excited when I first started the work but things have been happening lately and my writer's block for this story is too big.

Sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused,

J

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys

**Author's Note:**

> I have writer's block with everything that I have going right now and the only thing I can really focus on is this story. But more to come for my other fics as well!


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